Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter (Greek: Δημητηρ) is the Olympian goddess of the harvest, agriculture, grain, and fertility of the earth. Her sacred attributes include sheafs of wheat, a torch, the snake, the pig, the poppy, and a cornucopia. Demeter is equated with Ceres in Roman mythology, Isis in Egyptian mythology, and Cels in Etruscan mythology. Mythology Abduction of Persephone Demeter's beloved daughter Persephone was abducted to the Underworld by Hades after he witnessed her beauty while she was picking flowers in a field. Demeter searched for her ceaselessly, preoccupied with her loss and grief. The seasons halted; living things ceased their growth, then began to die. Faced with the extinction of all life on earth, Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the Underworld to bring Persephone back. Hades agreed to release her if she had eaten nothing while in his realm, but Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds. This bound her to the Underworld for six months of every year. These six months correspond with the unfruitful seasons of the calendar and her return to the upper world with the springtime. Hecate assisted Demeter in her search and, as a reward, became Persephone's attendant in the Underworld. Celeus Demeter's search for her daughter took her to the palace of Celeus, the King of Eleusis, in Attica. She assumed the form of an old woman and asked him for shelter. He took her in and she was cared for by his sons, Demophon and Triptolemus. To reward his kindness, she planned to make Demophon immortal so she anointed the boy with ambrosia and laid him in the flames of the hearth to gradually burn away his mortal self. However, Celeus' wife Metanira walked in and screamed in fright when she saw her son in the fire. Demeter abandoned the attempt. Instead, she taught Triptolemus the secrets of agriculture and he, in turn, taught them to any who wished to learn them. Thus, humanity learned how to plant, grow, and harvest grain. Affairs Iasion At the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia, Demeter lured Iasion away from the crowd and they had sex in a ploughed furrow in Crete. She then gave birth to Plutus from their union. Poseidon Demeter was pursued by Poseidon, but she shunned his advances and hid from him in the form of a horse among the mares of King Onkios. However, Poseidon recognized her and, in the form of a stallion, caught and raped her. She bore him two children: Despoena and Arion. Erysichthon When Erysichthon cut down a sacred grove of Demeter, Demeter asked Limos to curse him with an insatiable hunger. However, since Limos and Demeter are opposite numbers, they can never meet, so Demeter had to ask Limos through an oread nymph. Limos snuck into Erysichthon's chamber while he was asleep, hugged him, and breathed upon him, cursing him with endless hunger. This led him to eat himself. Family Demeter is one of the six children of Cronus and Rhea. After her birth, she was swallowed whole by her father but was eventually freed by her brother Zeus when he came of age. Demeter is the mother of several deities, including: Epithets and poetic titles *''Achaea'' *''Anesidora'' ("sending up gifts from the earth") *''Aganippe'' ("the mare who destroys mercifully") *''Chloe'' ("the green shoot") *''Chthonia'' ("in the ground") *''Despoina'' ("mistress of the house") *''Erinys'' ("implacable") *''Europa'' ("broad face" or "broad eyes") *''Kidaria'' *''Lousia'' ("bathing") *''Malophoros'' ("apple-bearer" or "sheep-bearer") *''Potnia'' ("mistress") *''Sito'' (Greek: Σιτώ, "she of the grain") *''Thermasia'' ("warmth") *''Thesmophoros'' ("giver of customs") Category:Greek mythology Category:Greek deities Category:Greek gods